Generally speaking

High tension string is harder to bend the string. So it gives better control. But it needs more power to hit. Power hitter can use high tension string, for example Bjorn Borg. The other low tension string makes impact to a ball. Much too high tension makes tennis elbow. Take care yourself.

it has to do with something called the trampoline effect as far as i know. the tighter the strings, the less trampoline effect (the less the strings will bend) and so there is less chance of your ball flying off in directions other than the one intended. think of bouncing a ball on a solid flat cement floor, that ball is going to bounce right back up just as you would want it to. but if one were to make the floor a little more flexible (analogous to releasing some of the tension in the strings), it would be harder to get the ball to bounce back up exactly the way you want it to. i'm sorry that's so confusing but it's the best i can do.

that's not necessarily true, i don't think placement is more important than power. what's important is finding the right mix of placement and power. if you can place the ball wherever you want but don't put any power, then the opponent can get to every ball. if you hit the ball as hard as u can without much placement then u run the risk of hitting it out a lot of the time.

I've found out the hard way that string tension is pretty much the most important aspect of the racquet and, for my game, it's lower tensions which best suit not the standard and higher ones most pro shops and racquet companies advocate.

Higher tensions provide more control by reducing the size of the sweet spot and thereby reducing the power the racquet itself generates when it comes into contact with the ball.

If you swing very fast and hit the ball very hard you might want to use a higher string tension as you yourself are providing much of the power so dont need the racquet to do as much of the work.

If you have a slow, measured swing you might like to try lower tensions. That allows you to use the speed of the ball rather than a fast swing to generate pace of shot. However, as the sweet spot is enlarged there is a greater chance of a mishit.

Like 'livelyfellow' said, it's the Trampoline Effect.

With low tensions the strings 'flex' back on impact and then sling-shot the ball. With higher tensions there is less flex and far less sling-shot effect.

Personally I think you should start with lower tensions and work up. If you do it the other way around you can get frustrated by your inability to generate pace which can lower your enjoyment. It can also cause you to swing too hard to generate pace and, if your technique is thrown off, can cause some arm pain. Going lower to higher you'll pretty soon find out if you need more 'control' (less sling-shot) or more 'pace' (more sling-shot).

Of course, your playing style does have a lot to do with it as well.

Last edited by AndrewD; 12-10-2004 at 08:55 PM.
Reason: spelling and grammatical errors

answer/ opinion

i believe that lower string tension gives more power since it becomes something like a trampoline which pushes the ball further away from you. unlike low string tension, high string tension is like hitting the ball with a wall, which makes the velocity of the ball lower than with a lower string tension.

i know that to much power or extreme amounts of kinetic energy from the string gives less control since you get less time to brush up on the ball with manditory amounts of push. so i'm saying that higher string tension gives more control.